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3) Discussion paper/case study

Through out this discussion paper I will be drawing on the heart-warming film I am
Sam (2001). This film follows a single father named Sam who not only is struggling
to raise his daughter Lucy but is also struggling with a learning disorder; he is a man
trapped with the mental capacity of a seven year old. After an incident at school it is
questioned if Sam is able to take care of seven-year-old Lucy, who is beginning to
surpass his mental capacity, and she is taken into the custody of social services.
Drawing upon the many confronting concepts in the movie I am Sam (2001), I will
discuss the individual with a learning disability, what the causes of a learning
disability are and the impact it can have on individuals through out their life. I will
also discuss the impact on the family with a person with a learning disability, as well
as the different partnerships and support from the community those individuals with
a learning disability and their families may need and the applications of professional
values and their impact on the building of professional partnership with a family
which their child has a learning disability.

3a. The individual with a disability

Sam is a middle-aged man who has been diagnosed with a learning disability from
a very young age; he is a seven year old boy trapped in a grown mans body. There
are many causes of learning disabilities, as stated in Shapiro and Rich (1999) there
is an emphases that learning disabilities are biological and with some environmental
factors such as school and personal supports can either help or hinder peoples
learning. A learning disability usually affects ones ability to understand or use
spoken or written language, do mathematical calculations, coordinate movements
or direct attention (Cavendish, 2012), from a young age Sam showed that he

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struggled with his spoken and written language as well as with coordination and his
lack of attention span, he is easily distracted while in conversations by objects or
animals, he also struggle in social interactions with other people. As an infant and
through out his childhood he struggled with his coordination as well his ability to use
the spoken language. Coordination is stated in Slee, Campbell & Spears (2012) as
being one of the fundamental areas in Piagets six stages of development, as well
as the communication being an exceptional factor of childhood development.
Through his inability to comprehend and utilize the spoken and written language
brought on bullying from the other children in his sparse years of schooling. It is
positioned in Bowes, Grace & Hodge (2012) that children with learning disabilities
are more likely to experience physical and verbal bullying. Through bullying can
derive the stresses of being behind academically from the children as well as
behavioral problems, which is brought to attention in Westwood (2004) that children
with learning disabilities may suffer from behavioral issues. Which Sam experiences
when he is frustrated he tends to act out, as shown when he gets frustrated with a
little boys statement and grabs him. Though Sam went to a mainstream school
based on his mental capacity as an adult being of a seven year olds the school was
unable to support his needs. Though through his adulthood Sam shows that living
with a learning disability is not always a bad thing, Sam expresses a deeper interest
in helping people in whatever it may be, and according to Shessel and Reiff (1999)
many adults believe that the learning disability helped shape who they were,
whether creatively or with their desire to help people, as Sam shows unknowingly.

3b. The family of an individual with a disability

Growing up Sams primary care giver was his single mother, he was an only child
within the care of his mother who also suffers from sickness due to stress, but his

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mother wasnt the only family member impacted by Sams learning disability, his
seven year old daughter is also greatly impacted. As stated in Seligman and Darling
(2009) childhood disability is expensive and being a single parent can cause a
struggle financially to keep up with the costs that come with a child with a disability.
Based on all these costs furthers parents, especially single parents, to work longer
hours, and could cause them to be deprived from social settings, and cause stress.
Though that is not the only aspect of affect of having a child with a disability can
bring to families. Some families in Bostrm, Broberg & Hwang (2009) state that
having a child with a disability can be hard but they wouldnt change it for the world
because they are such a pleasure to have them in their life, and they have learnt so
much from the child and other families in the same situation. Though this was not
the case for Sams mother, she has taken on the expression of resignation, which
are parents who are doubly isolated and the never become integrated into
alternative support groups depending on other factors in their life like poverty or
terrible mental health due to stress. Though Sams mother is not the only family
member affected Sams learning disability, his daughter, Lucy, is also impacted from
Sams disability. It is stated in Collings & Llewellyn (2012) children of parents with
learning disabilities are assumed to be more at risk of poor outcomes. They state
that if the child themselves doesnt already have a learning disability themselves,
they feel an obligation to take care or their parent because they have a higher
understanding. All these are assumptions and it is not proven that parents with
learning disabilities are unable to care for their child. Lucy expresses that though
she is surpassing her father mentally she wouldnt change him for any other farther
because he creates a loving and caring environment for her to grow up with.
Collings & Llewellyn (2012) states that parents with learning disabilities who have
contributed and been involved with parenting interventions that are specific for them
to practice newly learnt skills and behaviors have shown that a great outcome and

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proves that some parents with a learning disability can take care of their children.

3c. Partnership between families, teachers, and the wider community

There are many support services for individuals with learning disabilities and their
families, though Sam wasnt exposed to this as a child based on his mental capacity
being only of seven year olds. If Sam were to be a 5 year old in this day and age he
can be supported in an educational setting by the different ranges of schooling such
as special needs schooling or within a mainstream school with disability units that
provide aides for the students (Bowes, Grace & Hodge, 2012). According to Heiman
& Berger (2008) family is a healthy support for children with learning disabilities and
that they have potential to influence their childrens adjustment positively just by
providing acceptance, cohesion, and problem solving ability. Though according to
Bowes, Grace & Hodge (2012) the ability to accommodate to a child with a disability
and others in the family members depending on variables such as material
resources available, parent education, family connectedness, prior experiences,
and social support available to the families. Which conducts the importance of
teachers and other personnel and their partnership with families because it enables
support for not only the parent but also further extends the development of the child
with the learning disability (Carlisle, Stanley & Kemple, 2005). Some things teachers
and other personnel to support the child with a learning disability as well as their
families is to form a support groups and depending on the childs characteristics.
For example Sam has difficulty socializing with other classmates or people,
teachers and personnel can provide formal intervention programs as well as
informal opportunities such as participation in youth disability sport and mainstream
sport (Bowes, Grace & Hodge, 2012). There is a strong need for parent-professional
relationships, whether it be for a child with a learning disability or one without,

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partnerships between teachers and families can effectively facilitate student

success (Murray, Mereoiu & Handyside, 2013, p. 218). This displays the
importance of partnerships between families and teachers for every child, but with a
child who displays a learning disability there is a greater requirement for
partnerships to further enable growth and provide a better environment for the child
with a learning disability to learn to their best ability. If Sams mother had been able
to provided a better environment growing up, and if the school had provided such
facilities for Sam and his family this may have created a better future for him.

3d. Application to professional values

Family systems theory is a theory that states the family operates as an interactive
unit, if something affects one member of the family affects all members of the family
as a whole (Seligman & Darling, 2009). Bowlby (1951) as sited in Seligman &
Darling (2009), states that the mother was seen as the most important object of
infant attachment and fathers are seen as a supporting role in their lives, but in
recent studies it has been taken into consideration that every family impacts one
another. I can say that I have witnessed this within a family I have met who has a
child with a learning disability, there were two children, one with a learning disability
and the other without, the mother always focused on the child with the learning
disability because she believed he needed her more, but this resulted in her other
son acting up at school for attention. This simply shows the impact of one family
member and how it can impact other family members. This also happens in I am
Sam (2001) with Sams learning disability, the courts believe that this will impact on
the growth of his daughter Lucy, Sam becomes dependent on Lucy and the same
goes for Lucy. In the Early Years Learning Framework (DEEWR, 2009) there is an
outcome specifically on the child becoming independent and involving themselves

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in their surrounding environment and social situations. Within Heiman & Berger
(2008) it states that parents of children with learning disabilities are very protective
with their children and are willing to do anything for them. This goes against the
values of a teacher that we are able to enable the children to form their own
independence if their parents are there to do everything for them. This can hinder
the formation of a professional partnership with a family because sometimes they
are so set in providing their children with all the answers and not allowing them to
find the independence to do it themselves, whereas as a teacher we promote their
own problem solving and independence for the future. I was able to whiteness this
within one of my placements, where at home a child with a learning disability was
always given the answers or the parents provided what he needed without allowing
him to work it out himself, and at school that is what he expected to happen, when it
didnt he went home and told his mother, which ensued an angry parent telling the
teacher what she believed was right for her child. This constitutes how some family
systems can impact on teacher and how teachers and parents should communicate
to form the best possible outcome for the child.